Everything had to come out of the office so we could paint…so the front room is a disaster. We are amazed at how much we had crammed in there!
Tom has been building boxes for awhile now for the new wall of shelving for my business. This was the dry fit.
Tom made the most delicious smoked T-bone steaks tonight…so gave the pups a treat. Ivy tore the hell out of it.
Tom shoveled this area for the dogs…but you can see that Ivy doesn’t really mind the snow.
ALLLLLL the cuddles… Watch Ivy get closer and closer.
And then a nap with dad.
In a new hoodie (which she’s too big for already).
And introducing her to the smells at Anna and David’s…their dogs were crated.
Sharing a bone!
We had a list of about 12 names we were considering, but Ivy won by process of elimination! (Some of the last to get eliminated were Sissy, Sadie, and Ruby.)
And of course Anna and David came over to meet her! Olive couldn’t get enough of her.
And as soon as Ivy got up… Olive took her place!
We were picking the puppy up around 5, so it was the last few moments of calm.
I’ve agreed to get a second dog.
We’d been thinking about getting a cat to have a friend/playmate for Olive, but long story short that’s just not a workable option…so when Tom found Boston puppies locally it sparked the discussion. I still have reservations, but Tom loves to remind me I’ve always said I wanted a fleet of Bostons.
So we discussed it with the kids (Katie was REALLY excited—enough to offer to pay for part!) and discussed it ourselves…and decided to take Olive to meet her and at least see what happened.
The lady warned us that “Sasha” was really shy so everyone was surprised when they got along! (Maggie never got along with other Bostons so we didn’t expect much.) They even ran around and played a bit!
We don’t have a name yet but we get her Monday. ❤️ (We had to put all of Christmas away first.)
Anna and family went home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning but came back for Christmas dinner! Tom had wanted to smoke a prime rib…
It was delicious.
Admittedly I bitched a lot beforehand about Anna making us go to Lightscape (I’m turning into a major homebody as I get older!)…but it ended up to be super cool and I have apologized.
Getting ready to see The Illusionists thanks to Veteran Tickets Foundation!
Holiday decorations go up!
Tom hauls everything up, puts the tree together, then comes back to do the star. Unfortunately the lights in the star were dead and we didn’t realize until it was attached.
I was so busy with a houseful of guests and dinner prep that I barely had time to look at my phone (so most of these are from everyone else)! But it was so worth it to have everyone together — from Georgia (Filipek), Michigan (Schwalm & Coe), and Illinois (Schwalm & Hudson). And our best friends joined us, too…and fit right in!
Then we did some reenactment shots!
I can’t believe it was 22 years between these photos. But we all still look the same, right?! Also: no kids in 2000, six kids in 2022!
After some initial super frustrating snafus with actually getting everyone INTO the aquarium, the three boys (and three parents) took a “deep dive into the day of an aquarist—the animal care staff that work with animals ranging from fishes to reptiles to birds—and learned more about this profession.” They all seemed to have fun!
Owen didn’t decide until the day before that he wanted to go trick or treating so his choice of costumes was limited… I didn’t even get a picture of Katie because so much was going on.
Olive loved everyone! She would wait patiently and wouldn’t bark or go crazy.
But she loved the attention.
Of course, Katie refused to wear her wig at the last minute, so Tom put it on instead. It looked epic.
And he and Anna made a cute couple.
Halfway through…
My reading buddy:
Drinking wine and reading by the fire… Finished my glass and sent this text to Tom.
Yayyyyy!
We had an away game which means we’d be gone for like 4 hours so we took Olive to Anna’s so she could play with Honey. She always ends up in the front seat.
I haven’t posted much about baseball this fall season… Tom is coaching again. They’re about 50-50 for wins and lossses. Owen isn’t pitching but it still liking first base…and has been catching more!
It was a wee bit chilly. Katie even stayed in the car!
When you travel to Michigan and are close to your first apartment you officially shared (after my cousin Lisa moved out), you stop for a selfie.
The name of the complex has changed slightly but it looks exactly the same. Tom had to stop me from knocking on our actual apartment door and asking to look around.
We also stopped to check out Horrocks. Holy shit has that place grown (since we were last there 20 years ago)!! I would kill to have something like that by us now! We managed to spend a few hundred dollars on fun food items like flavored meats and cheeses, bulk dried goods and treats, flavored bulk olive oils, and Michigan-themed products just to name a few. If you’re ever in the area, you MUST stop: Horrocks of Lansing
I apparently tweaked my back last night leaving the reception—and didn’t realize it until this morning when I tried to get up and out of bed and realized I had more than my usual amount of pain.
Walking out, I had half stumbled on some rocks (in my stupid heels—why did I try to be fancy?!) and “caught” myself. (But aren’t they fancy?! They looked amazing!)
I can walk (thankfully) but can’t bend at all. And Tom had to help me put my underwear and pants on. But isn’t that what marriage is all about?!
An outdoor wedding in Michigan on October 1? It was a daring move but it was the most amazingly gorgeous day to watch my cousin’s daughter (I googled and that makes her a first cousin once removed or I can call her a niece) Jessica marry…a marine!!
Yes you bet your ass I’m wearing my crown!!
No fun errands or escapades… We were on our way to Michigan for my cousin’s wedding (technically like second cousins – whatever my cousin’s kids would be to me!).
Birthday dinner at a super yummy Chinese restaurant in Saginaw.
And a birthday margarita, because of course. The waitress guessed it was my birthday – telling me her mom wears a crown, too. Hey, it got me $1 off. LOL
And then we realized we wanted water for the hotel room so stopped here.
Our foursome went to Charlie Berens tonight and he was hilarious. If you are from the Midwest and haven’t seen him, you’re missing out! Stop what you’re doing and go watch some of his videos on YouTube (and you can get merch here).
Tom said there was some whining throughout the race – and there was some walking – but everyone finished!
I thought she might just lay down and relax like Maggie loved to do.
NOPE.
She was up the whole time—looking out the windows, trying to get on the dash, barking at people in cars, and then watching intently when Tom went in to run an errand.
He’s waited 20+ years to have a truck and he certainly went all out! (I’ll just be over here choking on the monthly payments.) He put a deposit down in February just to get on a waiting list and it finally came in! Happy 50th birthday—you get no more presents for a few years!!
P.S. I guess I should tell you what it is (if you’re not a car person and have no idea)—a Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.
Tom wanted to try fixing her ears when she was younger but I think the floppy crazy ears are cute.
